PERRYSVILLE — Two Ashland County volunteer fire departments qualified to receive grants from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry.
Savannah Volunteer Fire Department and Green-Perrysville Joint Fire District received over $11,000 in grant money combined.
Savannah was granted $1,354.48 to purchase chainsaws. Green-Perrysville was granted $10,000 for a slip-in unit, commonly called a skid unit, which is a a self-contained firefighting system designed to be easily transported on trucks and/or trailers.
Green-Perrysville Fire Chief John Mott said the district’s current skid unit is 10 years old and has failed while a crew was trying to put out a grass fire.
A new skid unit will cost $26,000, so levy money and donations will cover the rest of the purchase.
“We’ve been very successful with grants in the last eight to 10 years and we do all of our grant writing in-house,” Mott said.
The district is waiting to hear back about a $50,000 grant that would fund renovations to the 30-year-old fire station.
The district also received its newly remounted ambulance On Feb. 18, which was purchased using levy money. A remount places the patient care ‘box’ (the rear module) on top of a new truck.
“We essentially have a brand new ambulance. So new truck, same box that should last at least another 10 years,” Mott said.
Mott said he also plans to apply for a grant to purchase a new hose because the current ones are 20-30 years old. He also wants to look into grant funding to support a drone purchase.
Savannah Fire EMS Coordinator James Stuart said most of the department’s saws are 10-15 years old, so these new ones replace those aging ones.
One of the chainsaws includes a rescue saw, which is something new to the fire department.
“We try to leverage grants as much as we can,” Stuart said.
The department also recently received a $150,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to replace all air packs, including new spare bottles and masks.
Air packs are wearable devices that provide breathable air in hazardous, oxygen-depleted, or smoke-filled environments.
The Division of Forestry approved funding for 95 projects totaling more than $593,000 for fire departments in rural areas through the Volunteer Fire Assistance grant program.
VFA grants are open to fire departments composed of at least 80% volunteer firefighters that serve communities with populations of less than 10,000 people within the ODNR Forestry wildfire protection area, according to a press release.
VFA grants may fund up to 50% of the total project cost, not to exceed $10,000 per grant.
“In addition to wildland fire training, this funding helps departments serving Ohio’s wildfire protection area enhance their equipment and operational readiness,” Chief of Ohio’s Division of Forestry Dan Balser said in the release.
“Investing in local departments strengthens emergency response at the community level.”
Other nearby fire departments in surrounding counties that received grants include:
- Holmes County: Killbuck Township Fire Department, $4,973.49 for wildfire tools and personal protective equipment (PPE).
- Holmes County: Western Holmes County Fire District, $10,000 for a slip-in unit and a utility terrain vehicle.
- Richland County: Plymouth Fire Department, $5,223 for multi-agency radio communication system (MARCS) devices and suppression supplies.
- Richland County: Worthington Township Fire Department, $3,096 for wildfire PPE, tools and supplies.
- Richland County: Washington Township Fire Department, $10,000 for MARCS devices.